Life and times of an almost 40 virgin

Menu

Tag Archives: interview

i did my interviewing today. i can’t really talk about the interview, but just draw upon my own experiences interviewing with for a management position. a difficult process but to be in the hot seat.

my first management interview as hinted here was for a management position at a locally owned movie house. while at first my observation was that it went well i was floored when it didn’t go my way. for a long time it was hard understanding what happened. it never occurred to me that i won’t get it.

then with today’s experience i know why. my second opportunity was with a national movie theater chain and i’ll just say that i blew it. i somewhat know why it didn’t happen for me, but it’s acceptable to me now that it didn’t happen. perhaps it wasn’t meant to considering the experience i was hoping to leave behind at “the show”.

finally, i consider my experience seeking a supervisor position at my current company in grocery. i didn’t do a very good job preparing although my understanding of the job is somewhat strong even if not entirely. i consider the fact that i came back from a vacation and the interview came so soon (a day) after returning to chicago that left little room to prepare.

so with the movie theater – even if i worked with people who questioned everything i did managers and colleagues – i knew that business. i worked for almost five years in a theater so surely something has sunk in even if i know nothing about financials i have an idea about operations. perhaps the leadership skills are untested, but it’s possible to learn them.

most of my interviews for manager or not was largely improvised, i “winged” it. most of the time i didn’t do me much good, but most of the time i relied on my own experience. if my experience is in retail or theaters that’s what i relied on to get through the interview.

on the other hand, what i’ve realized i failed to do in a few interviews is that i didn’t know what a particular company offered. i at two different points interviewed with two grocery stores. one of them was the company i currently work for – we’ll just call them “fresh foods”. the other company we’ll just call “finer foods”.

a few months after graduating from mission i interviewed with “fresh foods” and crashed and burned. years later i figured out why, i had no idea what that company had to offer. the first time i heard of them was on tv with news stories advertising their health care plans. essentially that’s all i knew and while i did attempt to talk of their product offerings i had little clue about them.

in other words i could’ve know the goodness of this company years before i joined and i would’ve had good benefits and good pay long before joining “the show”. if this was a sure thing i only talked myself out of it. i talked and the manager i spoke to chose not to hire me.

after my recent experience now i know how to approach future interviews as a job seeker. regardless of whether or not i’m staying with my current company whom i hope to last 5 years or i choose another. preparation will be key and no more winging it. have some semblance of a plan.

I worked at a theater for several years and again picked up a part-time job in that business in addition to another full-time job so why not outline a movie about a mid-30s male virgin. Not sure how compelling a story could be told hopefully it could be both drama or comedy. Hell lets throw in the theme for “Curb Your Enthusiasm” as incidental music.

This film can be inspired by “Don Jon”. It’s a movie about a man who loves women has encounters but can’t let go of porn. This is a young guy who has to start dating a cougar to realize he’s addicted to porn and he’s not satisfied with the women in his life.

The drama and stupidity – whether of my own making or from anyone else – at the movie theater I used to be employed with could factor. There are several incidents that either involved me or otherwise that could be a plot line in the film. Hell I can always throw that poor girl Candace into the fold.

The bank I can always tell as a flashback but lets say we end the story of the theater with me leaving for the last time. Then we may pick up with me at my new job and then flashback to my firing from the bank. The flashback would probably just involve handshakes, a closed door to an office, and then an indoor shot of me outside walking out of the branch.

Perhaps we pick up my time at the current job – perhaps my orientation period – before we flash back. In my new role I’m unsure of myself until I gradually learn the new job. Better yet me getting ready for this interview exactly the day after firing. And there will be flashbacks to the day before.

Of course the ending of this film is up to me. It could end with me and the girl finally having sex or in a relationship and on my way to living the life that I want. And that life should involve a girl.

Think of this as a three act play, similar to “Steve Jobs”. The beginning is the low point – as the writer and the person who lived it this is exactly what it was. The middle is the beginning of the recovery. Then the final act is merely taking shape things start moving in the right direction towards the end.

I really would like to live that movie and find a way to share it in the near future. When you think about it, this seems like an art-house film that could either be a cult-classic or a forgotten work that could only be discovered by film buffs years later.

my two week notice at the theater. my birthday. and then of course my firing which just passed this month. in fact it occurred exactly two days before my birthday.

the interview for my current job in retail was the day after the firing. me and my current manager played phone tag which i attributed to my work hours at the bank until i finally just called him. got screened then got an interview for that saturday.

i set interview time hours after the shift i’d have been working at the bank on saturday. so i talked to him on a thursday and then got fired from the bank on a friday. which means my original plan got thrown out of the window, however, i had plenty of time to chill before the interview on saturday evening.

this interview was for a soon to open new store and they needed to fill some positions – see this is how i got the job at the cinema years ago. so basically i met with my soon to be new manager at the regional offices and it seemed to be after hours everything was closed and i was quite confused. i got off the elevator and then thought how the hell do i get into this place because no one was there.

what i had little idea about was the person with whom i spoke was on his way to the bathroom so i stopped him. so he said he’d check out some things and it turned out that well i needed to speak to him. so the interview went well enough and he said he would have me speak to another manager in the customer service department.

at that point i thought a customer service position was a better fit for me. what i was being interviewed for involved food, not very keen on that but in the new year that’s where i was going. the other interviews with customer service and another department didn’t lead to a job offer. my current supervisor liked my attitude best and offered me a job on his team.

now if i may set up the situation at the time. i had left a job that was frustrating, then got fired from a job that was frustrating, interviewed for another job a day after my own firing, then in the new year found myself with a better job.

in looking for a job i was looking for growth, better pay and benefits. well growth is something i have to foster but at least i have better pay and benefits. oh yeah and i forget about paid vacations as well. 🙂

I’ve thought about whether or not I should talk about my time at the bank. This is considered something of a transitory period that only filled the time between the cinema and my current job (which while i may call it the office it’s in fact in retail).

In another post it was noted that it took me a month to and another job after the firing. Funny thing is the day before the bad news hit I had already arranged an interview for my current job. It proved to be a short period on unemployment.

Before that with the same company I currently work for I had an interview at a different location. My availability probably wasn’t what they were looking for and ultimately it didn’t happen for me.

It was an interesting situation as I had to answer what I was seeking. Essentially I was lead into just looking to make a few extra hours on top of the 20 hours a week I had already been working. Either way it’s hard to interview when you realize you hate your job.

at least in time for the next interview with my current job it wasn’t something i had to answer for. indeed the topic didn’t come up and the bank job never came up. just as well what happened at the bank is something at least that was very forgettable.

it only led me to something that was a much better fit. perhaps when i left the cinema the job i was meant to have wasn’t ready for me yet. this is how i’ll choose to look at it.

this month i might discuss work more. yeah there may be posts about women or what i hope to accomplish with some of the women i know. but i feel it’s important to discuss work this month.

work seems to have as much of an affect on me as not connecting with her does. at the same time work will help me finally connect with her. it’s one piece of the puzzle but not the only one.

yeah i’ll probably throw around a post or two about the honesty box as i’ve planned to do. still December will be about work and what i’ve done at work and what i hope to accomplish at work.

also my birthday is this month, friend my assumed name account on facebook and wish me a happy birthday :P. i may discuss my goals as i head into another year as a “mid-thirties virgin”. perhaps the next year will be the key to finally connecting with her.

"He brought me to his banquet hall and raised the banner of love over me. Restore my strength with raisins and refresh me with apples! I am weak from passion... His left hand is under my head and his right hand caresses me" - Song of Solomon 2:4-6